That’s right in the infrared and is detectable by sophisticated modern instrumentation.

Thermal imaging devices can ‘see’ you. They create images based on differences in surface temperature by detecting infrared radiation (heat) that emanates from objects (e.g. your body or that of an animal) and their surrounding environment.

Caveats: The foil will block the IR heat signature behind it. Though there’s a problem… Heat will build up inside and will escape ‘somewhere’ (you have to breathe). Heat will escape from openings or wherever the foil is not tightly wrapped.

This heat will then be visible to IR thermal imaging devices. Concealment for the most part will be temporary without more elaborate techniques to disperse the heat.

Glass

One of the most effective methods to block IR is to conceal behind glass. Glass is entirely opaque to thermal imaging.

It’s not a practical solution though, due to the obvious impracticality of movement or ‘on-the-go’. But it’s good to know.

Netting Materials

Thick Netting will help. Especially visible detection.

The holes throughout the netting / webbing will help disperse heat signature – though not completely. A significant deterrent though from thermal IR heat detection.

It will help to disperse the heat or hot spots that may be underneath as the airflow will be somewhat broken up by the webbing.

The heat signature will not be as intense, but spread out more. An example may be to cover a vehicle that has been running with netting. Best to leave some air gap between the material and hot surface (prop it up).

Heavy Blanket

For a quick temporary method of IR concealment, throw a blanket over yourself. A thick woolen blanket will help defeat thermal imaging. It works surprisingly well.

Covering with a layer of insulation, the heat is blocked (or partially blocked) so that it doesn’t radiate. This is only temporary concealment as the heat builds beneath the blanket. It may work long enough to conceal during a quick TI scan or Drone flyover…

Blending in with other heat sources

Concealment by blending in next to other warm objects, like warm stones or thick walls that may still be holding the heat from the day.

The vents in buildings may be out-flowing warm air; a source of heat that can help obscure your own thermal outline.

You get the idea… wherever there is existing natural or man-made heat, you can blend in with that to help conceal your presence to an IR or thermal imager.

Wear a Ghillie suit

A Ghilie suit will certainly help disperse your heat signature. It won’t block it, but it will help diffuse a heat signature.

Wear an insulated jacket

Insulated pants and a hat. It won’t be 100% but it will help lessen the heat signature. Again, the heat will build and escape through the neck openings and face. You could cover your face with cool mud, which will work temporarily.

It’s all pretty much common sense; reduce, disperse, or cover the sources of heat.

Objects between You and the Sensor

Put trees and/or brush between you and the suspected IR imager. Trees overhead will help break up the infrared signature, especially under a heavy canopy of leaves.

Stationary vs. Movement

Tips

When you are hiding your heat signature (with a Mylar emergency blanket or other means), under some conditions your signature may look ‘too cold’ to an IR scan of the area (an extra dark outline, or a ‘black hole’), which may make you detectable.

The problem with most IR cloaking methods, IR clothing or netting designed to block IR, is that it will also block the background IR – creating a black hole of varying degrees. Ideally you would want something that ‘cloaks’ or blends your IR signature such that the background scatter at your location is what the observer sees.

The military has better than it technology now, if you watch the curse of oak island they used a less advanced version of a thing that uses radioactivity to penetrate the ground and see what’s under it by looking at the changes in the energy that are specific to certain materials. I don’t think you can hide from that.

Wouldnt it be alot easier to find a way to detect a drone and possibly find a way to use a rf jammer to take it out? Like possibly an air cannon or something that resembles a poatato gun to shoot the rf jammer close enough to the drone to block the radio signals long enough so it couldnt recover and fall to tbe earth? It would give you enough time to camouflage yourself or book it

Use a passive means. Im sure u can make a suit that pulls air into the neck and sleeves and dispurses it out of the legs. As long as you run the fans as soon as you put the suit on, you wont build up heat inside the suit.

Remember, you can always carry a laser strong enough to blind and a rifle strong enough to put holes in one of the three critical hydraulic systems of a copter, which encases them all in a compartment the size of a refrigerator.

Shape-Shifting. One of our prepper girls created a series of mylar body drapes, made from emergency blankets, that has cut-outs which allow heat to escape in a desired pattern, like the shape of a deer or elk. It’s like IR camouflage. When we engage in practice maneuvers wearing these drapes we stay in the trees and we don’t follow standard tactical movements. Though we do use typical squad techniques we try to emulate or appear as a group of deer or elk moving through the forest. To the unknowing eye we have shape-shifted. Pretty ingenious don’t ya think. This idea was presented to us at one of our prepper meetings by an 18 year girl. All of us old, seasoned tacticians looked at each other in total amazement. It was like a light went off in our heads simultaneously. Thinking out of the box is good. We tested it out using a Night Owl Next-Gen thermal-imaging binocular from a helicopter at 8,000′ and at near ground level and the results were amazing. The combination of shape-shifting and the unconventional tactical movements would have fooled even the sharpest of analysts. It actually worked too well. We had to modify the drapes by softening the edges of the cutouts. We achieved this by pounding nails in rows thru a 2″X4″, large to small, and using it as a stamp along the cut-out edges to soften the apparent edges. The results were more realistic.

When technology seems as though it cannot be circumvented, sometimes the simplest of things will defeat it. In your example, it is not about defeating the technology itself, but instead it is fooling the operator who is using the technology… Thanks for the heads-up. A perfect example of thinking outside of the box…

People using that type of camo would only appear to be wildlife to someone using IR. I’d imagine that in the normal spectrum of light their IR disguise would be very obvious. Hunters don’t use infrared (legally, anyway).

I have a expensive leather trench coat . I also have ir night vision . When looking at me with my coat on all you.can see is my head . Add a leather hood I could walk all over and not be seen . I only replied to this specific comment because I could not find a place to post a new one

Most hunters using IR would not see a deer shape, as they are made to appear deer shaped from above, more likely they would see an odd heat signature emanating from above the blob, and two leg heat signatures from below, unless they are in a 500 foot high tree stand.

No. Thermal imaging is on the receiver end. You can see the light of the sun (passive) because you have receptors capable of seeing the energy it puts out. Or you can use an x-ray to make a film (active) in which the energy is aimed at the object being x-rayed.

There are forms of energy that actually radiate, but thermal imaging is passive.

As far as the waves of energy, we are surrounded by energy at all times. There are certain types that could cause this effect but I haven’t researched them. Essentially it’s an energy overload and the electrical systems in your body are reacting.

Can thermal, especially on a drone, “see” fishing net? I am thinking very light net hung beneath a balloon. I am writing a sci-fi story. I need a low tech way to disable or fool attack drones. See recent video of F-18s dropping 100s of drones from wing pods.

On a ruck sack frame build a canopy frame that has clear plastic attached/draped to it and it should be wide enough to give protection from overhead angles, leave enough room to keep the plastic from heating and on top of that add some camo netting. you can wear it while moving about at night and no heat signature can be detected overhead and 3rd gen nightvision should be compromised also. Of course line of sight from a parallel plane would expose you but you should know what your hiding from and adjust accordingly. Hiding from strictly I.R. cameras will leave you compromised, night vision is getting better.

Has the possibility of thermal decoys been explored? Make dummies with chemical heat packs to “salt” the area with false positives. What about microwave emitters to heat up an area or to use as a focused weapon, trap, or jamming device? I have seen a manual for dismantling a microwave oven to do such a thing. Maybe setting up a drone trap in a salted area could be a workable technique. Would canyon country be a good terrain to set such a thing up? If you can create a funnel area for them to fly and have weapons that can take them at speed and height, manage to jam their navigation or alter their flight in a manner that sets them up for the kill, I think a combination of these techniques might be used to draw them into a better kill box. In other words, actively hunt them instead of passive camoflage evasion.

Back in the mid ’90s we had three guys go bandito here in SW Colorado. The FBI’s IR equipment was completely useless because of the heated (summertime) rocks and such. They killed one and the other two committed suicide. I’m sure there have been improvements in IR equipment since then but that whole blending in with the surroundings worked for them.

I was In Service back in the mid-80s and we used to play “hide & seek” with the A10 Warthogs and early Apaches with IR. Going SOP at the time was to disperse off the road/trail under cover/concealment, pop your hoods(allows heat to to disperse), and disperse away from your vehicle(if your vehicle takes a hit, you’re not in it and your heat signature doesn’t add to its). We were issue the old heavy rubberized rain ponchos back then and one of these pulled loosely over yourself and ruck spreads out your heat signiture without intensifying it like mylar. Anything that makes you hotter is not good as your exposed face, hands, etc become more intense. Also, the ponchos can be hung over nearby bushes, etc for greater ventilation thus keeping you somewhat cooler.

I’ve had some luck carrying extra cool water, and soaking myself at time to reduce my thermal signature.Soak yourself. change direction, hunker down in the bush. only works in a short time frame, and it is limited, but a Night Owl Next-Gen thermal-imaging binocularat 5000 feet missed me twice.

The wet suit or dry suit made of neoprene did a very exceptional job of hiding the heat signature of a human body.

The problem was that he had only minutes before his body would overheat and cause heat stroke.

The solution I came up with was more or less what to do about the contained body heat and how to get rid of it.

There is already a commercially manufactured solution to this.

They are cool shirts ,cool pants and a head wrap of sorts all used by race car drivers to keep them cool while inside a hot race car .

Each garment has vinyl lines filled with a solution that won’t freeze at normal temperatures and is hooked to a cooler filled with ice and circulated via an electric pump.

So why could we not incorporate such cooling garments INSIDE of an insulated suit of some kind.

Even a winter snowmobile suit would work covered with a gillie suit for visual camouflage .

The wearer could then wear an insulated backpack of some sort containing the ice , pump and battery to power it.

this is all under the gillie suit.

The Gillie suit would be far enough away from any heat source so it would be at ambient temperature of its surroundings thereby eliminating the “Black Hole” of being too cold to a Thermal Imager .

The wearer would then be comfortable and invisible to Infra red and Thermal Imaging equipment as well as visually invisible with the gillie suit on.

His time out in the field is only limited to how long the ice pack lasts.

Of course for longer times then dry ice could be used but has to be sewn into the lining of the suit to protect from frostbite and the tubing ,pump and coolant fluid would have to be rated for the colder temps of -80 Deg. far.

The coolant fluid to circulate through it would need to be an alcohol but one with a higher flash point above 150 Deg.Far. or so and a freezing point way below that of the dry ice .

The suit could also be used in reverse to HEAT the individual in a cold climate but insulate from the imagers also.

Jim, I like the idea, but if you were to use dry ice you would have to rerun the lines to be an insulated flexible metal so that it didn’t burn your skin. You could go for several days if you did it i right though. Looking around some, I found a chemical called heptane that seems to be decently safe. It is used as a fuel additive to stop knocking in engines. It has a melting point around -90 degrees c and a boiling point at 100 degrees c (-130 F and 200F). It looks like it will cost about $250 to get enough to use it. I didn’t look to hard though.

Dry ice is not only too cold, but doesn’t last very well, either. In addition, you are going to have to find a place to get it when TSHTF! You can’t store it for more than a couple of days. There might be a way to make it if you care to store a big bottle of “Liquid Carbonic” That is CO2 under a LOT of pressure. When released through the proper equipment, it will make dry ice. But you have to already have the liquid carbonic and the proper equipment on hand. I might add that CO2 can suffocate you if you use it in an enclosed space or is released into your face. Naturally, handling it is a problem, too, since skin contact will give you instant frostbite. I would say, all things considered, that CO2 is not a preferred item in your dugout list.

Fgduncan
Your right about the suffocating there was a story out of Washington a Dippin Dots delivery guys wife used his car to take his mom somewhere and there were four coolers w/ dry ice that didn’t seal properly the guys mom died and the wife was in critical condition not sure if she survived or not this was in 2018

Heptane is a little more flammable than its brother octane, and octane is the chemical name for gasoline! Instead of looking for the more expensive heptane, you can simply use gasoline. I don’t know about you, but wrapping myself in gasoline really don’t appeal too much to me.The obvious advantage is, of course, that it only costs about $3.00/gallon and can be found almost everywhere.

Noob question: So ok, it doesn’t work through glass. Does it see through sheet metal? My question is for example: would hiding in a vehicle with tinted windows block it on the short term? Can Ti see through the walls of a house? This was a good article, but it didn’t answer enough of the basic questions about what it can and can’t do.

I read that lasers are great for blinding infared and night vision cameras. I’m not sure if a simple 5mw laser pointer will do the trick but they do sell high powered lasers capable of popping balloons and lightning matches. I’m sure this would not just blind the camera but completely fry the camera IR sensor permanently. Another cheap backup if it works. Why hide when you can fight back and possibly damage the drones surveillance capability.

Camouflage isn’t about adding the right colors to you! its about blending into the surrounding area any thing you can do to get this done will help don’t stand out in color or shape or heat is now added. so false advertising and changing colors and blending in to the heat surroundings . When I was in the army I thought that if we were at war here that I would park in a Wall mart parking lot. or better yet In the store with my m113 or 5 ton wrecker.

Hiding under a recently driven vehicle will blot out your signature with the hotter engine image. Using a ghillie suit made from strips of mylar will do an excellent job of dispersing your signature to look ‘non human’ from above (especially if you leave the head exposed, giving a very hot but small target, which looks like a small animal from above), digging a foxhole and covering yourself with a fair amount of earth will disguise you. Going into a deep enough pocket of water will lower your thermal image. Hiding near large heatsinks like walls, rocks, etc that have absorbed a lot of thermal radiation during the day will cover you. Go underground into sewers, manholes, storm drains and utility tunnels. All of these things will help cover your tracks if you are being scanned for by drones or choppers. The need to defeat technology to act as guerrillas sounds wrong, but may become necessary. The French resistance fighters never probably thought about being guerrillas either, ’til Hitler took Paris.

Dont want to sound like a pessimist but the men that developed the tech are smart they have unman tech that can scan the smallest of irregularities in combination. The best way to hide from someone is to take out the senses. If you only take out my eyes I can still smell, hear, taste and feel you and the core of all the tech not only the eyes in the sky is electro in nature

Like I stated at the bottom of the post if you camoflage a area with insulated glass the camera will not see through it. Using various paints from dull to shiny will give the captured image that it sees a look of the surrounding temperatures instead of what is behind it. The varying emissivity levels confuse the camera which does not have the ability to see through the glass in the first place. I am speaking of FLIR cameras. You have to keep in mind that I use the T-620 which only costs around 20,000 US. Some gas cameras go close to 200,000 in cost. It was a FLIR that was used that spotted the Russian sub in Seattle harbor a number of years ago. Our trainers related the story to us of how they detected the underwater heat signature and reported it to the NAVY. Needless to say, FLIR is the cadilac for the private sector

All of these idea’s sound good but most are not practical in the long run. My idea for a simple answer for fast and ready use is the trusty umbrella. The Mylar can go over it. Small holes will leave small bits of light that will blend into the background and allow body heat to disperse.
While not as good as the fancy idea’s it is quick and easy. And it can be stored with the bug-out bag.

…now that is an interesting idea. Thanks for the comment. I suppose one could fashion an existing umbrella with Mylar on the underside (so it won’t be obvious or reflective outwards) by sewing (gluing – contact cement?) a wedge on each folding panel section. Like you said… with some hole cutouts to reduce the ‘black’ signature.

The deer shaped cutout was something I imagined also. You could have several in different poses. For example, the thermal silhouette of a deer curled up to sleep. Perfect to use as a fly for two guys to sleep under!

One thing I’ve always wondered about. Could two men appear to look like the thermal signature of a big deer or elk if they adopted the “horse costume” position? You know, the guy in back plays the rear end of the animal and has his head practically up the ass of guy who plays the head. I bet that may fool an observer using thermal and groups of two men could actually travel in “herds” undetected. Someone with a thermal camera try this and report back. I guess the effectiveness of this pose depends on how good the resolution is on the camera, how alert the observer is, and how long you can stay bent over some guy’s smelly ass….

Recently some Texas students proved to DHS that with a couple hundred dollars in parts they took control of a predator drone while in flight…someting to look into learning maybe? Oh and it was proven the same with planes.

Don’t forget the reflective nature of mylar. As has been mentioned it should be covered with fabric, clay, paint, grease, to name a few. If you do not have space blankets on hand, round up as many Chip (Etc…) bags as you can and wrap yourself under your outer wear. (Adjust for climate differencial, given the heat retention factor.) Small ones for socks and hand covers. Though your signature from small regions such as hands, feet, face, will register from a distance as nocturnal species about in the night. Then there is the bug out via boat issue. Engine heat is your enemy. Same type of system over your outboard to get out of your preexisting FEMA camp. (Islands, across rivers, lakes, et al. ) Keep it quite. Though the Ocean is a big region, and with its usual swell, the up and down will also aid in camouflage…

The car windshield visors with mylar covering and a foam insulation in side may work. I bought a number of them from a dollar store, I’m keeping my eye out for more to Build a place to sleep under or make sure temporary camp under some trees and sleep in hammocks to stay cool.

There are civilian versions of IR detecting dvices that are able to detect temperatur differences of less than 0.1K. There are also systems with software that detect movement.
Such cameras are used to detect gas leaks for excample. It’s amazing what you can see and that’s just an actively cooled mobile device for around 50,000 Euros.

I don’t know what a modern IR device in a military application for some million Euros/US$ is able to do.

There is one thing that make deetction difficult and this is distance. Because IR lenses are super expensive and because of the huge diffraction of long wavelength (simple physics) IR imaging systems have far less resolution that optical imaging devices like your ordinary digital camera.

So I doubt that a drone flying really high(!) above you can make a high resolution IR picture, no matter how expensive or sophisticated that device may be.

You have to be within some hundreds of meters to see if a hot spot is a human or an animal.

Why not use highly reflective paint on a double pane window glass that blends in with the surroundings. The paint will have an emissivity that is higher than the glass thus giving you a variable IR signature yet will not allow the persons body heat to be seen through to the collector. If all someone is looking for is a camoflaged hidey-hole, this would work great. If one is looking for mobility, why not a ghillie suit of reflective mylar with a plexiglass face-shield such as those used in arc-flash protective equipment? An understanding of how Forward Looking IR (FLIR) cameras work makes a huge difference also.

I have actually been designing a temperature controlled suit to wear that effectively blocks Thermal Imaging and Infra Red detectors as well as any visual observation system (cameras).
It involves an thermally insulated suit and a build in liquid cooling system to keep body temperatures at an ideal temperature via a controller regardless of what the outside temperature is at.
The best part is that it is also very water resistant.

I am going to put this here in a basic way because I do not want the one who taught me to know that I broke my promise so pay close attention folks it is not that difficult if you do EXACTLY what I say to a TEE….

-IR Avoidance-

1. MUST have a CLEAN DRY piece of ‘LIGHT COLORED’ fabric. (cotton or natural NOT synthetic)

2. SOAK it in WAX BASED POLISH. Lemon Pledge is what I was taught with but there could be one better suited for this project. so tinker….
(I mean SOAK it) –Let it Sun or air dry NO DRYER! 100% dry…

3. Repeat step 2 but use “FEBREZE” this time not Pledge.

4. Repeat step 2 but use “Real Rain X” not generic!

– JUST REMEMBER TO LET IT 100% DRY BEFORE STARTING NEXT STEP & YOU WILL BE AMAZED IN WHAT YOU JUST ACCOMPLISHED.

-I have done this for myself and I know what it does so pick the right size cloth and enjoy…..

Here’s an idea. Design a temperature-controllable suit for the entire body and make it adjust the temperature of the suit to match the ground temperature, thus effectively camouflaging the wearer. Small temperature probes on the bottoms of boots would detect the ground temperature. This is entirely possible, but only with a significant amount of time and money.

You said about heat building up…but can’t that be solved using a cooling system?With liquid nitrogen for example.Just a little.It would turn into a gas which will go through a hose cooling the body.I don’t think it will make frostbites since it wouldn’t be too much(gas state too,not pouring liquid nitrogen on the body)…Of course,just when the temperature go too high.Would that work?

Btw…you were talking about scopes,right?Can a army satellite see that close at night to spy using the object’s heat?

LN2 is not too good an idea. It cannot be stored for very long since it will evaporate all the time. Trying to pressurize it to stop the evaporation will result in an explosion! If you had a tank car of it, yes, it might last a month or so, but you can’t make it without some very specialized equipment that requires a LOT of electricity. I would not include LN2 in my plans for when TSHTF.

I might add that being odorless, colorless and tasteless, it can be VERY dangerous since you can be asphyxiated and not even be aware of the danger! It is being considered as a humane way to execute people since breathing it makes you pass out and die before you are even aware of the danger.

The Army guys had trouble seeing through the acetate covers of billboards when in Iraq. Glass and acetate may have the same properties but im no expert. Ive coated an existing umbrella with acetate. Consider as well a water bottle to mist the umbrella to keep it cool for extended periods if necessary. Sew strips of cloth or rope on the umbrella allows one to weave branches and brush in. Palm leaves stay very cool.

Another idea is to warp your heat signature. Complete coverage may not be necessary but enough to not look human.

Soil maintains about a 54 degree temp. Burial or partial burial may help or even a soil roof like the old dugout cabins.

There is a saying in the air force when it comes to IR, “shoot everything pink”.

Unfortunately you cant avoid detection if you are in the open , heat builds up behind blankets etc ,the best plan is to dig in but even then you can be blown out of the ground!
Best way is to hide amongst government officials!

I was a Survival Instructor in the Army, and this topic (IR) is the most important one I have run across in some years. The last thing, which changed my thinking, was a book by Laurence Gonzales, “Deep Survival”. If you happen to be military in nature, or have served, the book is a must read. Much of our military indoctrination is contrary to Survival. Think about that for a moment. The book is an excellent presentation of the mental attitude required to “beat the odds”.

What about interspersing mylar strips into the burlap strips of a ghillie suit? Seems like the coarse burlap would help disapate escaping heat and break up the visual outline while the mylar strips would help break up the heat signature (outline). Since they are strips rather than a solid sheet, the heat retention would be minimal. It would be short term since eventually a heat “blob” would surround you, but may be a workable solution, especially if the area is “breezy”.

As more and more people realize the great potential of this imaging technology, thermal cameras are being used today in many applications and many different ways. In many countries worldwide, thermal cameras play pivotal roles in a wide range of government, commercial, and industrial activities. So in the future we can expect there will be measures to control the misuses.

This also depends on what type of “infrared” technology “they” are using to look for you. A space blanket works well for Longwave (7-12 micron) since it picks up mostly emitted heat/energy. Midwave (3-5um) is a mix and will see a space blanket in the woods…while SWIR (.7-3.0um) will see the space blanket like an eyesore in the woods (or other non metallic environment). Your best bet is more of a combination of things. Make sure your outer shells look natural and you don’t have obvious heat vents. SWIR doesn’t see dye (unless it’s special SWIR resistant) and your walmart camo looks like white coveralls in SWIR…but in LWIR it will block a lot.

Overall a great starting article, but before you take this tidbit of info and run you should research more how infrared works.
(Source from working in the infrared optics field)

Since you work in the infrared optics field, what techniques would you suggest, or is there literally no way because of the combination of LWIR MWIR and SWIR? Which wavelength is most often used by ‘them’?

There is no one wavelength or one way. They all have balances tho. LWIR is great for seeing detail in large temperature swings (is people next to a forest fire) but the resolution of the microbolometer that is most often used is poor. You can tell if people are next to the fire, but you are never going to tell who it is. MWIR is much better at detail because of the shorter wavelength (also research nyquist frequency) but is easily blinded with something hot (ie a flare next to your face makes it very hard to see features). SWIR is great at seeing through moderate fog and smoke, but starts to get blinded by smoke that is lit up (since SWIR is almost all reflected light..just like visible).
Without knowing what infrared images look like, it’s tough to do…but think about things from all 4 wavebands (vis, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR) and how they look. Most drones out there have at least a vis (or vis-swir combo) and one of MWIR or LWIR…some have all 4. Camouflage is all about who is looking for you. We wear orange into the woods so other hunters can see us, but deer only see gray.

Infrared can’t see through roofs and walls like in the movies (although radar does, but that is another can of worms), but it can see heat escaping windows and chimneys (inferring there are people nearby). A good guille suit (apologize if poorly spelled) with native vegetation will break up your outline a lot. Just like the airplane radar game (and outrunning a bear) you don’t need to be the fastest or invisible…just better than the next guy.

Bit off topic, but was wondering if there is any substance, may be an inch big in size which could emit heat higher than body temperature. The reason I am asking is, I am using PIR sensor to detect the motion, but I what if I want to detect the motion of the one particular person, I though of having that heat emitter hooked on that user and then detect that person instantly as the heat temperature will be higher.

I have a problem with my home security camera. In the day it’s fine, but at night, I found my front door neighbor is aiming an Infrared light to block my camera. I have my camera aimed at my driveway, but he’s not a sane person. I strongly believe he’s using a hunting scope, since the police just confiscated a large amount of weapons from him too. Is there any type of filter I can use that will allow my camera to work? I’d really appreciate any help.

You might consider moving the camera to the edge of your property and aim it back towards your place or add a camera to the system in this position because it will stop that blocking nonsense, give you access to car tags and still allow you to see what your wanting.

**Shodans** If your camera is filming any of his property at all, or even if he thinks you are filming him, then he has a right to his privacy and you are the one who is invading his Constitutional Right to privacy.

I know how to stop them from getting heat signatures from me. Either a large baseball bat used on their equipment or a few well placed bullets into that same equipment. Excuse me, but I’m a little sensitive about my Constitutional Rights to privacy, especially when it is in my own house or my own property! I just loved that video on the news about 6 months ago where the guy did some skeet shooting with his shotgun on that drone hovering by his house!!

– A lot of the comments on this thread appear to assume that thermal/IR imaging only refers to airborne (aircraft/drone/satellite) assets. Trust me, they are the least of your worries. Thermal and IR (Infrared), incidentally, are not the same thing.
Having played with both, and used them, there are multiple weapon systems with thermal and/or IR capabilities. These include all M1and M60 series tanks, M2 and M3 Bradleys, Dragon missiles and even individual sniper weapons such as the M40-series rifles.
During the Persian Gulf War, Battle of 73 Easting, at least one T-72 was destroyed due purely to its exhaust being visible from where it was hidden behind a berm.
The tank was hidden behind a bulldozed berm, and according to tank doctrine for defense, it would watch for American tanks, pull up to clear the berm, and shoot at them. The driver would throw the tank in reverse as soon as the cannon went off, and duck back behind the berm.
The American troops became annoyed at this and ultimately one M1A1 gunner, able to see the waves of heat from the Iraqi tank’s exhaust, fired a “guesstimated” sabot round through 3 meters of dirt berm, the T-72’s front slope, the driver, the base of the turret, the tank ammunition compartment, engine, fuel tank, rear armor, and several meters of dirt behind the vehicle.
Just sayin’
– Papa S.

I like this post. Have been wondering how to accomplish hiding our body heat. There is some very informative ideas and information. For many of us though the simpler the better. So I appreciate the help with that. If the soaking of cotton material works, that application would be helpful in many situations and convenient to achieve.

I really enjoy it when we add our knowledge and ideas in the comments. It’s part of what makes MSB such a great resource and so enjoyable to visit! As far as avoiding Infrared detection, there are allot of factors to take into consideration when determining what method(s) to use to conceal your IR signature…

*What is being used to detect you? Keep in mind, not all IR is thermal based. Night Vision also utilizes part of the IR spectrum to enhance images by combining it with the part of the spectrum we can see, but it does not include the thermal information. Thermal detection produces a different set of information based on temperature differences. Even if you could completely conceal yourself from thermal imaging detection, you may still be plainly visible to simple night vision.

*Are you stationary or moving?
Some of the ideas offered will be more effective for a stationary position such as a guard post, entrance to your BOL, etc., but are too heavy, complicated, cumbersome, or fragile for using on the move. Others would be effective for very short term applications in the field such as a mylar blanket, “treated” clothing, ghillie suits, etc. where you will not be under observation for long. These will trap heat and thus, you will start getting hot rather quickly. They only provide a brief concealment.

*What is looking for you?
Is it a human with an IR scope? You may or may not detect a human being using an IR scope. Thus, you may not know where that person is, from what direction they are looking, how far away they are, etc. In fact, you may never know they were there in the first place.
A civilian drone with a FLIR camera? Civilian drones have limited range and flight time. They tend to be pretty noisy and are more easily detected. Still, by the time you hear it and figure out “where” it is, you may have already been detected.
A military/gov drone? Military drones are going to be undetectable to most people. They can fly high enough to conceal their sound. They can stay aloft for 24 hrs on a single tank of fuel. They have multiple cameras that can be used in concert to detect you. These include regular cameras, IR cameras, and cameras that can see through air obstructions such as smoke and clouds. They can also carry ordinance to use on targets.
A helicopter? Helicopters are loud, and thus will likely be used more in a pursuit scenario where the presence of a target is known, rather than in a general surveillance mode.

*The season, time of night, weather, etc. If it’s early in the evening following a hot summer day, you will tend to “stand out” less compared to your surroundings as they are hot/warm from the heat they soaked up during the day. I’ve seen footage taken from a thermal imaging FLIR camera on a helicopter where the subject appeared much darker than his surroundings because he was fleeing through an area that had absorbed massive amounts of heat during the day. In the winter, you’ll stand out like a campfire in the mountains at night. Rain, wind, and other environmental factors can work for or against you.

For the purposes of thermal imaging, you want to be at or very close to the temperature of your surroundings… that is hard to do. Too warm and you’ll stand out. Too cool and… you’ll stand out!

For many of us the most practical thing will be to alter our thermal outline through partial concealment and/or posture, get under or behind something (especially foliage), or suddenly alter our heat signature by doing something drastic like jumping into a pool or pond. Trying to contain our heat signature will not work for long as Ken pointed out because we will either overheat, or the body heat we are producing will start to seep out at the edges, or both.

There are some neat ideas out there. Try doing an image search on terms such as hiding from thermal detection, mylar blanket thermal camera, etc. You will see success and failure.

An idea I have been considering for a while is two lightweight but large wool blankets with a sheet of mylar sandwiched between them. It would be portable, effective for longer than simply a mylar sheet or a wool blanket alone, and would serve another purpose as it would also help keep us warmer in colder weather. I look forward to seeing more comments

I really don’t worry about thermal imaging or infra-red. I’m guessing that if the normal, everyday prepper is encountering an adversary that has it, he/she has become the target of a government agency. If that’s the case, I don’t figure they have much chance of surviving the encounter. If the decision to take you out has already been made, you’re done for.

If you are being targeted by a non-governmental adversary that has such equipment, it would be survivable. Know the difference between “cover” and “concealment”. What was once considered “concealment” has no use unless it is also “cover”. What will stop a bullet will also block the imaging.

Best defense is not be a target and/or have an early warning system to give you a heads up that you are being targeted.

Dennis, This article was originally written years ago when drones were becoming a hot topic and ‘on scene’ in the news. The political climate back then had those on the ‘right’ side of the spectrum quite concerned of what was going on at the time. Since the time this article was first posted it has been a popular hit on search engines. I decided to update it somewhat and re-post it today, years later for further comment. Familiarizing one’s-self with technology may be enlightening for some.

There are a heck of a lot of “targets” for bad people and/or government to hunt before they have to come out here in the woods to find me using sophisticated gear. I am just not worth the effort. If I am the last holdout for whatever, the country is really screwed. Hell, I only have 300 rolls of TP.

I did use the hand-held bidet to stretch my TP, but like any mechanical device, it crapped out after three years. I think now, I will just leave IR thermal imaging signatures all over the woods – that will confuse the feds. hahaha

Go to you tube ” Apache Helicopter kill 20 Taliban”
Wool is one of the best blockers of a heat signature. Look at the wool tents full of people and a cook fire but no heat signature. A full length blanket with a hood would block your signature. This would also be a cheap quick fix using military wool blankets or a classy Pendelton wool blanket. Most of us have a wool blanket in our vehicles or go bag.

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